


my phantom pulse beats blue

by Anonymous



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: M/M, grim reaper seonghwa, hongjoong can See ghosts, idol singer hongjoong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:28:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23220991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: angel of death seonghwa has no interest in humans beyond collecting their souls when their time on earth is up.that is, until he meets kim hongjoong.
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 10
Kudos: 194
Collections: Anonymous





	my phantom pulse beats blue

**Author's Note:**

> fun lil thing inspired by an idea from my beloved ania @sharkhwa (u can find her on twt and ig) who does cute ass, quality art and always has great ideas! :D she suggested Death Seonghwa falling in love w human Hongjoong and well, here you go :>
> 
> i really enjoyed writing this so i made it a little longer once i noticed i was passing my usual snippet length haha! i could easily make this 10-20k at least if Real Life wasn't so hard on me right now but a little writing is better than none amirite??? 
> 
> hope you like :D

As an Angel of Death, Seonghwa is no stranger to regret and missed opportunities. 

He’s watched the panic wash over people’s faces when they realize they’re really,  _ truly _ dead, once it sinks in that there’s no going back to the living even if they still have things to do and people to see. The spirit kingdom makes little to no exceptions for even the most devastating of separations, but Seonghwa has seen countless people waste their time away for months _ , years _ even, only to beg for more when all that time finally runs out, and repeated observation of such fickle behavior has left him cynical towards humanity even if he feels nothing in particular towards any of the individual souls he comes into contact with. 

That is, until he bumps into a blue-haired man. By all rules of the universe, it couldn’t and shouldn’t have physically happened, because Seonghwa gives a cursory scan for any indicative dark wisps of smoke around the stranger’s head and finds none, which means the man isn’t due to die anytime soon. Only people nearing the end of their time on Earth start to see Seonghwa, and even then, they don’t see him in full clarity until they actually pass. 

Not only that, the man has a long, healthy life ahead of him, so it really makes no sense that he flinches when he collides with Seonghwa’s shoulder instead of just passing right through Seonghwa’s form. 

“You good?” the man says, and Seonghwa stares at him for a moment, puzzled, before reaching out to touch the man on the arm. Solid. Strange. 

“What are you?” Seonghwa asks, quietly so as not to attract the attention of passersby. The man looks like he stands out among humans too, dressed in a retro style windbreaker, ripped blue jeans, and purple chrome combat boots with rainbow laces. It’s a lot to look at, but unexpectedly, it suits him, even if Seonghwa personally prefers moving about in the physical world wearing all black. 

“Annoyed,” the man replies, brows furrowing as he chews on his gum, and Seonghwa catches a whiff of blueberry mint, considerably sweeter than the man’s tone of voice. “Unless I’m seeing ghosts again.” 

“So you’re a medium,” Seonghwa says, and the man snorts. 

“I’m just a guy who sees stuff he doesn’t want to see,” he corrects Seonghwa, running a hand through his hair with a sigh. “Do you need something from me? A message delivered to your grieving girlfriend? A letter to your parents telling them that you’re going to be okay in the afterlife? I’m kind of busy today, but I can spare an extra trip to the florist’s in between my lunch and my recording session.” 

There’s a hint of darkness underneath the man’s eyes, visible to Seonghwa’s non-human gaze even if the man has done a decent job covering the discoloration with concealer. He doesn’t sleep regularly, four to five hours a night at best, and he most likely works in the entertainment industry judging by the eyebrow slit, colored hair, and fairy-like features. 

At first glance, his body language sends clear signals for people to leave him alone, but even with his guard up, there’s an earnestness in the way he looks at Seonghwa, revealing an almost altruistic level of kindness possessed by very few humans and even fewer death messengers in Seonghwa’s vicinity. 

“Why do you work so hard?” Seonghwa blurts out before he can help it, interest piqued. The man clearly doesn’t have enough time to do everything he wants and needs to do, and yet his words come out with a practiced ease that imply he regularly runs errands of the heart for ghosts. “You don’t need to help any of the spirits that come into contact with you when you’re so busy, and yet you do. Why?” 

“Why not?” The man tilts his head. “I might be the only person they can ask for help, and I want them to leave the mortal world with at least one less regret, so.” 

“I see,” Seonghwa says, with a thoughtful hum. The days he spends traveling on Earth completing missions are unremarkable, for the most part, and tend to blur into each other in his mind, especially since the spirit kingdom’s concept of time is completely different from time for humans. Where Seonghwa resides, what feels like a few seconds or a minute can translate back to Earth as weeks or even months, and he’s learned to give up his attempts on converging his understanding of the two very separate experiences. 

And yet, a chance collision with a blue-haired enigma of a man is a breath of fresh air after staying underwater for too many numbing years, even if Seonghwa isn’t too pleased at the fact that he’s more fascinated by this mortal than he would like to be, and he dreads the awareness he can feel returning of his own shadow of a heartbeat. 

“Anyways,” the man says, checking his phone for the time, before smiling unsurely at Seonghwa. “My name’s Hongjoong. I’m on my way to grab some lunch, but did you wanna come along so that you can tell me about the favor you need….?” He trails off, waiting for a name. 

“Sure,” Seonghwa says. He had souls to collect today, but there’s no harm in pushing his schedule back for a couple of hours and sating his curiosity in learning more about Hongjoong, and those souls will appreciate the extra bit of time before Seonghwa forces them to come back to the spirit kingdom with him. “My name’s Seonghwa.” 

“Nice to meet you, Seonghwa,” Hongjoong says, with a soft, boyish grin, more genuine than any of his previous expressions had been, and Seonghwa’s phantom pulse skips a beat. “How does Thai sound?” 


End file.
